Sparkkit's Destiny
by Bluestar4ever
Summary: Sparkkit is the leader's daughter. She was born on a full moon. Her birth might change the Clans- forever. **Being re-written**
1. Allegiances and Prologue

**A/N: Thanks for giving me another chance. Here are the allegiances to all four Clans and prologue. Hopefully this will be better.**

Allegiances

**SwiftClan**

**Leader:** Vinestar-female jaguar with yellow eyes

**Deputy:** Dashfoot-fastest female cheetah in Clan

**Medicine Cat**: Petalfrost-female cheetah with a white chest

**Apprentice:** Leafspots-young female cheetah with amber eyes

**Warriors:**

Sunfern-female cheetah with black ear tips

**Apprentice:** Goldpaw

Liontail-lion with white around muzzle

Sunwing-female cheetah with amber eyes

Lightningfoot-fast cheetah with amber eyes

Heatherfur-orange/yellow she-cat with amber eyes

Leopardpelt-female leopard with yellow eyes

Spottedpelt-male ocelot with red eyes

Glossfur-black and white tom with fur that's very sleek

Starfur-female cheetah with spots that look like stars

Smudgefur-black and white tom with green/orange eyes

Mudstripe-brown tom with lighter brown stripes

Oatspots-male cheetah with yellow eyes

Mousepelt-lion with brown eyes

**Apprentice:** Sparrowpaw

Mistfur-white she-cat with gray fur on back

Ripplepelt-black and white tom with yellow eyes

Pounceclaw-male jaguar with yellow eyes

**Apprentices:**

Sparrowpaw-lion with brown eyes

Goldpaw-female cheetah with orange eyes

**Queens:**

Vinestar

**Kit: **Sparkkit-female jaguar with dark blue eyes

**Elders:**

Gingerfur-female leopard with brown eyes

Tallear-snow leopard with long ears

**HailClan**

**Leader: **Hailstar- huge white tiger with piercing blue eyes

**Deputy: **Nightclaw- black male panther with pale yellow eyes

**Apprentice: **Ebonypaw

**Medicine cat:** Crystalleaf- white tigress with light blue eyes

**Warriors:**

Hazelstripe- white tigress identical to Crystalleaf; her sister

Snowfur- big female white tiger

**Apprentice: **Arcticpaw

Cherrytail- small female cheetah with amber eyes

Spottedclaw- male cheetah with long claws

Icestripe- white tiger with pale blue eyes

Blackfang- male black panther with long fangs

Leapfoot- female cheetah with amber eyes

Darkpelt- male panther with yellow eyes

Lightningstreak: white tigress with unusual single streak on forehead

Blizzardpelt: white tigress with blue eyes

**Apprentice: **Icepaw

**Apprentices:**

Ebonypaw- male black panther with yellow eyes

Arcticpaw- white tiger with blue eyes

Icepaw- white tiger with blue eyes

**Queens: none**

**Elders:**

Orangepelt- female cheetah with amber eyes

**MountainClan**

**Leader: **Oakstar- oak colored tom with amber eyes

**Deputy: **Yellowfur- female golden dappled cheetah with brown eyes

**Medicine cat:** Sandspots- light brown female bobcat with darker brown spots and amber eyes

**Apprentice: **Gingerpaw- female bobcat with amber eyes

**Warriors:**

Russetclaw- dark reddish-brown mountain lion

Snowcloud- male snow leopard with pale green eyes

**Apprentice: **Mintkit

Rootclaw- mountain lion with amber eyes

Cloudspots- female snow leopard with blue eyes

Treepelt- dark-furred mountain lion with brown eyes

**Apprentice: **Orangepaw

Redclaw- reddish mountain lion with amber eyes

Mudstripe- male bobcat with yellow eyes

Sparrowwing- female mountain lion with yellow eyes

**Apprentice: **Peachpaw

Stormclaw- snow leopard with dark blue eyes

Eaglestripe- female bobcat with yellow eyes

Voleclaw- golden-brown mountain lion with brown eyes

Willowfur- female snow leopard with blue eyes

**Apprentices:**

Mintpaw- female snow leopard with light blue eyes

Peachpaw- female cheetah with yellow-orange eyes

Orangepaw- cheetah with yellow eyes

**Queens:**

Flowertail- bobcat with pale yellow eyes (expecting Russetclaw's kits)

**Elders:**

Ripplepelt- old snow leopard with pale green eyes

Whitetail- female snow leopard with an unusual white tail

**RainClan**

**Leader: **Goldenstar- female leopard with pale yellow eyes

**Deputy: **Stonemane: big lion with amber eyes

**Medicine cat: **Creamtail- pale yellow female cheetah with amber eyes

**Apprentice: **Sunmist- female leopard with amber eyes

**Warriors:**

Flamestripe- big tiger with bold stripes

Sandfur- lioness with brown eyes

**Apprentice: **Berrypaw

Dusttail- large lioness with long tail

Snowpelt- white lioness with blue eyes

Burntstripe- dark orange tiger with brown eyes

Mosseyes- female jaguar with unusual pale green eyes

Cedarclaw- tiger with amber eyes

**Apprentice: **Rockpaw

Rustpelt- mountain lion with black eyes

**Apprentices:**

Berrypaw- female bobcat with amber eyes

Rockpaw- small bobcat with brown eyes

**Queens:**

Fernspots- female bobcat with green eyes

**Kit: **Pebblekit- cheetah with amber eyes

Orangefur- tigress with amber eyes (expecting Flamestripe's kits)

**Elders: **none

Prologue

Vinestar was in the nursery, breathing hard. She was kitting. The jaguar lay in her moss bedding, already exhausted. The medicine cat, Petalfrost, and her apprentice, Leafspots were beside her with herbs next to them. Her mate, Spottedpelt, was anxiously waiting outside.

There was a full moon in the sky. Vinestar wished her kits could've picked a different time to come.

"You're doing well, Vinestar," Petalfrost praised her. "The first one should be coming soon."

"I should be at the Gath-" Vinestar's reply was cut off by a shriek of pain.

"Shhh, don't waste your breath, I'm sure Dashfoot is doing fine." Petalfrost soothed.

Vinestar grunted, and then gasped suddenly. Leafspots, who had her paw on her leader's belly, removed it suddenly.

"It's coming!"

Leafspots backed away, letting Petalfrost take over. She brought a stick to Vinestar.

"Bite the stick when your kits come," Leafspots instructed. "It'll make it easier."

The leader nodded gratefully, then groaned with pain. She bit down on the stick, and as she did, her body convulsed as the kit slipped out onto the moss. Leafspots went over to the kit, nipped open the sack, and started licking its fur.

"Good job!" Petalfrost exclaimed "You're done! It's a she-kit!"

Leafspots looked up in surprise. "Only one?"

"Yes," Petalfrost mewed.

Leafspots pushed the kit over to Vinestar where she wrapped her tail around her protectively as she started to suckle. "She's beautiful." Vinestar breathed. "Can you get Spottedpelt?"

"Of course," Leafspots padded out of the den and returned a moment later with Vinestar's mate.

"You have one healthy she-kit," Petalfrost purred.

Spottedpelt went over to Vinestar's side. "Are you okay?" he asked his mate concernedly.

"Yes," Vinestar mewed.

He looked at his kit. "She's so pretty!" he exclaimed.

Vinestar smiled. "What should we name her?"

"Whatever you want."

Vinestar studied her daughter. She was a tiny jaguar just like her. "How about… Sparkkit?"

"That's a wonderful name," Spottedpelt murmured. He looked at her lovingly. "Welcome to SwiftClan, my little daughter."


	2. Chapter 1

Sparkkit woke up to the stream of light that flooded into the nursery. It had been five moons since she had been born and being the only kit in the nursery, life had been incessantly boring for her. Sparkkit had become friends with the two apprentices, Goldpaw and Sparrowpaw, but most of the time they would be training, hunting for the Clan, or taking care of the elders. When they weren't busy, they would play with Sparkkit, though it wasn't often.

Today, Goldpaw and Sparrowpaw were out on a patrol of something. Sparkkit looked around in the nursery, looking for something to do. Suddenly, her belly rumbled. The little jaguar glanced at her sleeping mother to see if she had woken up. She hadn't.

Sparkkit went over to Vinestar's side and prodded her shoulder. Vinestar blinked open her eyes and raised her head.

"What is it, Sparkkit?"

"I'm hungry." she mewed.

Vinestar sighed and got to her paws. "Okay, let's go to the fresh-kill pile."

They padded over to the center of camp where the fresh-kill pile was. Sparkkit waited patiently as her mother picked out a hawk and a mouse to share. Living in the mountains, there were large animals that the Clans ate as well as small rodents. It was greenleaf, so the fresh-kill pile was almost overflowing.

The two jaguars ate in the clearing outside the nursery. When they were done, they went into the den and Vinestar lay down into her nest. Sparkkit wasn't tired; she wanted to be in the camp.

"Vinestar, can I go to the elder's and listen to a story?" she asked.

"Yes, as long as you don't bother them." her mother replied.

"Yay!"

Sparkkit scampered out of the nursery. She went over to the other side of camp where the elder's den was. There was a stone ledge acting as a roof above that led into the den. She padded inside.

Gingerfur greeted her with warm eyes. "Hello Sparkkit, are you here for another story?"

"Yes." Sparkkit mewed.

"Which story would you like to hear, then?" Tallear, the other elder, meowed.

"I want to hear the story when there used to be three Clans instead of four." Sparkkit replied.

This was her favorite one. Gingerfur nodded and launched into the story.

"A long time ago, there used to be three Clans instead of four. They were BoulderClan, StoneClan and RockClan. We used to be StoneClan."

"Why?" Sparkkit mewed, even though she already knew why.

"I'm not sure why, but it might have been because their territory had large areas of stone." Gingerfur responded. "Anyways, all of the Clans got attacked by a huge group of bears. They were stampeding down the valley for some reason and all the Clans had to flee their homes and settle into another set of mountains." "The cats ended up finding four homes that they could live in so the leaders decided that there should be four Clans instead of three. They made up the Clans that are here today: SwiftClan, MountainClan, HailClan and RainClan. Everyone got to pick which Clan they felt like they belonged in."

"SwiftClan is named for our speed, right?" Sparkkit asked.

"Right. MountainClan is named for their ability to climb the steep cliffs on the mountains. HailClan is named for their fierceness. And RainClan is named for the cats-usually tigers-who don't mind getting wet. I've heard they have a pool that they train in." Gingerfur finished.

"Oh, I wouldn't have liked that." Sparkkit meowed.

"I don't know how you would know since you've never been in water before." Gingerfur purred.

"I know what it's like to be wet though! I hate the rain!" Sparkkit protested.

Gingerfur let out a mrrow of laughter. "Well, that's the end of the story." She meowed.

"Okay, thanks Gingerfur! Bye Tallear! Maybe I'll be an apprentice the next time I see you!" Sparkkit called as she ran out of the elder's den.

"That one is full of energy isn't she." Tallear meowed amusingly to his Clanmate once Sparkkit was out of earshot.

"Yes, all kits are." Gingerfur smiled. "She probably _will_ be an apprentice the next time she sees us."

"Yes, she probably will." Tallear sighed. "She's almost ready to become an apprentice."

**So I hope that was a good start to my first chapter! RainClan is NOT a copy of RiverClan, tigers like to swim and there aren't any fish in the pool either. They don't live by the Tribe of Rushing Water, they just live alone and they believe in StarClan. I hope that clears up things that might've confused you. Please review!**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Heyyy, thank you to the awesome people who reviewed and favorited my story!**

**Review Responses:**

**DarkerThanEvanescence: Lol, I just **_**know**_** that came from the heart… Peanut butter!**

**Babymoostachios: Hahaha! Thank you! :)**

"Let all cats gather around the Highstone for a Clan meeting!" Vinestar's yowl rang clearly across the camp.

This was it. Sparkkit was finally going to be an apprentice! _I wonder who my mentor is going to be. I hope my mother picks someone good._

Sparkkit padded up nervously to the Highstone and climbed up the small stones acting like steps that led up to the big stone. She stood next to her mother with her fur freshly groomed just minutes before.

"Sparkkit has reached her sixth moon and will now become an apprentice." Vinestar meowed once everyone had assembled. "Sparkkit, from this moment on, you will be known as Sparkpaw. Sunwing, you are ready for an apprentice. You will be mentor to Sparkpaw".

Her new mentor padded up to her with pride shining in her eyes. Sparkpaw reached up to touch noses with her.

"Sparkpaw! Sparkpaw!" the Clan called her new name. Pride washed over her.

She jumped down to the ground when Vinestar dismissed the meeting. Cats gathered around to congratulate her.

"Hey Sparkpaw!"

Sparkpaw saw Goldpaw pad up to her. "You're finally an apprentice!"

Sparkpaw grinned. "I'm really excited!"

"It's going to be so fun with you now!" Goldpaw mewed excitedly. She turned and saw Sparrowpaw padding up. "Not that it's not fun with you, Sparrowpaw." she added.

"Finally, a new apprentice! Goldpaw can get pretty annoying at times." He joked, his eyes sparkling with laughter.

"Hey!" Goldpaw protested with mock anger. "I'll make you take that back!" she scampered towards Sparrowpaw who ran away from her. Goldpaw waved her tail to Sparkpaw in farewell.

Sparkpaw watched them, her whiskers twitching. Sunwing came up to her.

"Are you ready for your first day as an apprentice?"

"Yes! What are we going to be doing?" Sparkpaw asked.

"We're going to look at the territory first so you can get to know it better." she replied.

"Okay, let's go then!" Sparkpaw exclaimed, running to the camp's entrance.

Sunwing mrrowed with amusement and ran to catch up with her. Together, they padded out into their territory.

"Wow," Sparkpaw breathed. She was amazed by the tall mountains that rose up in the distance and the ledges of different layers of rock.

"Now don't go running off again. It's very dangerous out here unless you know the territory so _follow me_." Sunwing told her sternly.

Sparkpaw nodded. They went up a ledge where there was a cave with moss inside.

"That's where the apprentices come to get moss for the elders," Sunwing told her. "It's not far from the camp so if we need it for an injured cat, it's quick and easy. One of the apprentices will be getting moss for your nest so you won't have to worry about getting it yourself."

"Okay." Sparkpaw mewed.

They padded out of the cave and walked a little ways before stopping at a pile of ferns.

"This is one of our scent-marks. We share borders with RainClan and MountainClan. RainClain is past these ferns and MountainClan is on the other side. I'll show you how to scent-mark it." Sunwing explained. She did and they went on.

"Up here on that ledge is one of the most popular places to catch prey. Most of the places we catch prey at are on ledges, and since this is one of the lower ones, we call it the Lower Ledges. There's a higher spot we'll get to called the Upper Ledges." Sunwing meowed.

Sparkpaw stared, taking it all in. She'd had no idea how big SwiftClan's territory was.

"The rabbits, mice, and rodents usually live here so it's a pretty easy spot to get to-especially when it gets colder and snow comes in." her mentor continued.

They left that area and went up a steep cliff and passed boulders that marked their areas. Sunwing showed Sparkpaw the places to catch the deer, moose, elk, birds, and other animals. When they got back, Sparkpaw was exhausted and hungry.

Sparkpaw settled down with a rabbit in the clearing when her leader came up to her.

"You're going to want to eat up and get some rest; you're going to the Gathering." she meowed.

"Really? Yes!" Sparkpaw exclaimed.

She quickly ate her rabbit and went into the apprentice's den. Goldpaw was there, sitting in her nest with an empty one next to her. Sparkpaw figured it was hers.

"It's your." Goldpaw told her, reading her thoughts.

"Thanks." Sparkpaw circled her nest.

"You're welcome."

"I'm going to the Gathering tonight." Sparkpaw meowed as she settled into her nest.

"Me too!" Goldpaw exclaimed. "Sparrowpaw isn't. I can show you around."

"That'd be great!"

"Well, we better get some rest since we'll be up really late."

"Yep." Sparkpaw replied and the two apprentices drifted off into sleep.

"Hey, wake up." Goldpaw prodded Sparkpaw's shoulder. Sparkpaw stretched and blinked open her eyes.

"It's time to go to the Gathering."

They padded out of the den just as Vinestar appeared out of hers. The warriors that were going were already lined up, ready to leave.

Vinestar reached the group and began to lead the cats out. Sparkpaw and Goldpaw fell in step alongside Sunfern and Liontail.

"How far is the Gathering place from here?" Sparkpaw asked Goldpaw.

"We go out of the Upper Ledges and it's about 20 moose-lengths from there." Goldpaw replied.

They ran in silence until they reached it. They were at a hill and they had to go down to get there. Vinestar let her Clan race down the slope.

"I can smell the other Clans!" Goldpaw whispered excitedly once they stopped.

Sparkpaw stared in awe. The whole place was a mountain. The dark sky and full moon basked the stone in a brilliant sliver light. There were four slabs of rock that rose together. Three were occupied. Ledges rose from around the mountains which cats were sitting on and there were also cats milling around on the ground.

Sparkpaw didn't know where to start, but a small snow leopard came up to her and Goldpaw.

"Hey Goldpaw!"

"Oh hi, Mintpaw." Goldpaw greeted her. "It's nice to see you! This is my friend, Sparkpaw. She just became an apprentice. Mintpaw is from MountainClan" The last part was to Sparkpaw.

"Hi," Sparkpaw mewed.

"Hello," Mintpaw greeted her with warm eyes. She was going to say more, but another cat called her name. "Sorry, I would stay, but Peachpaw wants me. I'll see you later!"

"Bye!" Goldpaw called.

Sparkpaw looked around again. This place was huge!

"I'll tell you about this place." Goldpaw mewed. "Those slabs of rock are where the leaders stand. Their deputies and medicine cats stand there too. The leopard is Goldenstar; she's the leader of RainClan. The leader of MountainClan is Oakstar. And the big white tiger is Hailstar, the leader of HailClan. He's the last of the leaders left from when the new Clans were made."

Suddenly, Hailstar began the Gathering. He talked about how his Clan was. When he was done, Oakstar took his turn. Then Vinestar began to speak.

"SwiftClan is doing well. Prey has been good to us and we're healthy. We have a new apprentice, Sparkpaw." she announced.

Sparkpaw puffed out her chest as the other Clans called her name. "Sparkpaw! Sparkpaw!"

Goldenstar was next. "RainClan also has two apprentices." she meowed. "Shadepaw and Flamepaw."

Sparkpaw joined in calling the new cats' names. They were tigers. One of them looked over their shoulder and met Sparkpaw's gaze. It was Shadepaw.

They held the gaze for a second before both turning away. There was something in Shadepaw's eyes that made Sparkpaw uneasy. She shrugged it off.

Goldenstar concluded and Vinestar gathered the Clan together. "It is time to go." she meowed.

The Clan followed her, and when they got back, Sparkpaw was tired again.

She went to her den. Sparrowpaw was already sleeping. Sparkpaw lay in her nest and before she knew it, sleep overcame her.

**Sorry it took longer to update! I meant to update it last weekend, but I got sick… I'm trying to get an update in at least every week. Let's see how it works out! :)**

**Review, please? They give me an inspiration to write!**


	4. Chapter 3

"Sparkpaw, wake up! It's time for training!" Sunwing called.

Sparkpaw sat up groggily and groomed herself quickly before coming out of the den.

"What are we going to do today?"

"We're going hunting."

"Great! Let's go!"

Sunwing purred at her apprentice's enthusiasm. "Hold on, you'll have to eat first," she meowed. "Otherwise you'll be hungry later and your growling belly will scare the prey away!"

Sparkpaw's whiskers twitched. "Okay."

They went over to the fresh-kill pile and they chose the flank of a moose to share. When they were done, they padded out of the hollow.

"The easiest prey to catch are the smaller ones, so we'll start with the Lower Ledges first." Sunwing meowed.

When they arrived, Sunwing stopped in a clear space and faced Sparkpaw.

"I'm going to show you the hunter's crouch. Then I want you to try and imitate me." She told her.

Sparkpaw nodded, her whiskers quivering with excitement.

Sunwing dropped into a crouch. She distributed her weight evenly to all four paws and kept her belly just above the ground. She stood up after a moment.

"Now you try it."

Sparkpaw tried her best to copy Sunwing. Her mentor helped her.

"That's pretty good for your first try, but you're leaning a little too much to the left. And keep your tail still; if you make any noise, you'll lose your prey."

Sparkpaw tried it again, this time making sure her tail was still and her weight was more even.

"That's better! Now we can move on to stalking." Sunwing mewed.

She lowered into a crouch and put one paw forward, then her other. Her belly fur was barely brushing the ground. "Like this," she mewed.

Sparkpaw copied Sunwing again, keeping her tail and belly fur just above the ground.

"Okay, but remember that you have to step lightly. Your prey can sense your paw steps."

Sparkpaw twitched her whiskers in annoyance. _Ugh! This is harder than I thought! _"

It's alright, you'll get it right next time, I'm sure." Sunwing reassured.

Sparkpaw attempted it again, trying to step lightly.

"Good!" Sunwing praised. "We can move on to the actual hunt now. Can you smell anything?"

Sparkpaw opened her jaws slightly to taste the air. She could detect the scent of a hare. A heartbeat later she saw it, on the far right.

"Hare!" she hissed, pointing to it with her tail.

"Okay, you'll want to stay downwind of your prey so it won't smell you. Watch me" Sunwing whispered.

Sunwing crouched, bringing one paw in front of another, stepping lightly, until she was in distance of pouncing. She bunched up her muscles and jumped, landing on top of the hare, killing it with a swift bite to the neck. Sunwing turned around and trotted back to Sparkpaw, who was watching with wide eyes.

"Now you try it." Sunwing meowed, burying her hare in the tough ground.

Just then was a scrabbling of tiny paws on the rock. Sparkpaw whipped around and saw a plump mouse. She immediately dropped into a crouch and crept closer to it, making sure she was stepping lightly and was keeping her tail off of the ground. She paused and bunched up her muscles just as she saw Sunwing do. Sparkpaw leapt, but she landed too short of the mouse and it started running. She raced after it instinctively, caught up to it, pinned it to the ground and killed it. She picked it up triumphantly and padded up to her mentor. _My first prey!_

"Good! You need to measure your jump more, but that's good for your first try." Sunwing meowed. "I'll get my hare and we'll get back to camp."

Once Sunwing dug up her prey, they returned to camp. They threw their catches onto the fresh-kill pile.

"Sparkpaw!" a voice called. "Did you catch something?"

Sparkpaw turned around and saw Goldpaw coming towards her.

"Yeah, I caught a mouse on my first try!" she told her friend.

"That's great! I wish I could've caught something on my first try."

"Well, I had to chase after it."

"Sparkpaw!" Sunwing called. "Make sure you take something to the elders before you eat!"

"Okay!" Sparkpaw called back. "I guess I'd better go, I'll see you later." she meowed to Goldpaw.

"See you!"

Sparkpaw picked up part of a deer and padded to the elders' den.

"Sparkpaw! How nice to see you!" Tallear greeted.

"Hi Tallear, hi Gingerfur," Sparkpaw mewed, after she set down the deer.

"Hello Sparkpaw." Gingerfur welcomed.

"Thank you for the deer. It's one of my favorites." Tallear meowed.

"Your welcome."

"Okay then, we'll see you later." Gingerfur meowed.

"Bye," Sparkpaw mewed.

She left and picked up her mouse at the fresh-kill pile. She took it to the apprentices' den and ate in silence.

Sunwing padded over to her. "Good job today. You better get some rest because tomorrow we'll be practicing battle moves."

"Great! I can't wait!"

"Good, see you tomorrow then." Sunwing meowed and walked away.

Sparkpaw finished her mouse and walked into her den. She circled her nest and curled up. She soon fell asleep.

Sparkpaw felt a prod in her shoulder. "Wha-? Get off!" Sparkpaw complained.

"Get up!" Goldpaw hissed in her ear.

Sparkpaw woke with a start. "Oh hi, Goldpaw,"

"You're finally up," she joked. "So what are you doing today?"

"Sunwing said I'm doing battle training today." Sparkpaw replied as she started to groom herself.

"Cool, maybe we can train together sometime! Well I need to go, I'm on dawn patrol."

"See you later!" Sparkpaw meowed, her whiskers twitching in amusement.

Sparkpaw padded out of the den and bounded over to Sunwing, who was outside the warriors' den.

"I'm ready for battle training!" she announced.

"Alright let's go." They headed out and Sunwing stopped at a dip in the ground.

"We'll start with the basics for today." Sunwing meowed. "When we train, we always have out claws sheathed. We'll do the front paw strike first. Come up to me and try to land a strike_._"

Sparkpaw nodded. She ran up to her mentor, but before she could land a blow, she jumped out of the way easily.

"An opponent won't just stand there, you have to be quick and imagine what they're going to do." Sunwing meowed.

Sparkpaw tried again, more quickly this time, but as she was about strike, Sunwing jumped again.

"Not bad, but think about how which side I'm going to jump to."

This time when Sparkpaw ran up, she was going to strike towards the right since Sunwing jumped to the left the last two times, and she figured she would do it again.

Sparkpaw was right. As her mentor jumped, Sparkpaw flashed out a paw and struck her.

Sunwing stopped to catch her breath. "Nice. Now we'll do the belly rake. I'll show you. Come running up to me."

Not knowing what to expect, Sparkpaw reluctantly ran up to her. Sunwing struck a paw underneath her, flipped her over, and pinned her down.

"You're showing your belly fur which is the weakest spot a cat has. "If I were an enemy warrior, I could rake my claws down your belly without thinking twice. This is your chance to strike first while you're pinned down to get back into the fight." Sunwing meowed and let her up.

"I get it now." Sparkpaw mewed, standing up.

"Next we'll do the teeth grip which is simple to explain. When you're fighting and you see a place where you can bite them, like ears, tail, and legs, sink your teeth in and hold until they yowl for surrender. Try to do that with me and remember, sink your teeth in far enough for me to feel it, but not so it will hurt me." Sunwing explained.

Sparkpaw ran up to her mentor and as she jumped out of the way, Sparkpaw lunged for her tail and sunk her teeth in until Sunwing felt it.

"That was very good." Sunwing praised. "Lastly, we will do the leap-and-hold." You'll jump onto my back, and that way you can get in some blows. This is great for a smaller cat facing a larger cat. The other cat will try to roll you over so watch out."

Sparkpaw once again ran up to Sunwing and leapt onto Sunwing's back. Sunwing looked surprised that her apprentice was able to do it. Sparkpaw gripped on until she felt Sunwing about drop down and roll over. Sparkpaw quickly jumped off before Sunwing rolled over and shook out her fur.

"Very nice. I think that's enough for one day. Let's get back" Sunwing meowed.

The sun was almost setting when they were done, casting an orange glow in the sky. _Wow, the day went by fast! _ Sparkpaw was proud that Sunwing thought she did well. She couldn't wait to do it again. Sparkpaw beamed as she padded back to camp with her mentor.

**I know it's been a while… March was way too busy for me, since I was juggling a cold, my birthday, tests, and my confirmation, all in three weeks. I'm not sure when I can update, but I'm trying! **

**In the next chapter, it'll be more focused on Sparkpaw herself. Hope you liked and please review!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey guys.**

**musicrox14: Thank you, I think! I'll take it as a compliment! Yeah, I finally finished tenth grade, yay! :) Sorry it took so long to update!**

Sparkpaw felt so exhausted when she got back to camp, that she could have fallen asleep in the clearing. But she forced herself to drag her paws to the fresh-kill pile and eat a vole in a few ravenous bites. Afterwards, Sparkpaw padded to the apprentices' den and settled into the nest. Goldpaw and Sparrowpaw were already asleep. She silently lay there and soon sleep washed over her.

Sparkpaw's eyes opened, finding herself in a cave. Still half asleep, she got to her paws and looked around.

_Where am I? This isn't SwiftClan... _A jolt of fear suddenly ran through her. _Is this another Clan's camp? Am I kidnapped?_

A deep voice came from behind her."Welcome, Sparkpaw."

Sparkpaw whirled around, her fur bristling. A bracken-colored leopard was facing her.

"H-how did you know my name?" she stammered in shock, her fear of being kidnapped by another Clan momentarily forgotten.

"We know everyone's names." the tom stated simply.

_Well that answers my question._ Sparkpaw thought bitterly.

"Where am I?" she mewed, seeing if maybe she could get a reasonable answer from this weird tom.

"You're in the Dusk Cavern." he answered. "My name's Blazeclaw. We train the cats that want to get better at fighting. Follow me." Blazeclaw turned and started padding further into the cave.

Sparkpaw had no choice but to follow him.

"Wait!" she called. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see,"Blazeclaw replied.

They walked in silence for a long time. Thoughts were racing in Sparkpaw's head. Who exactly _was _this cat? Why was she here? Could she even trust him? She didn't know and she wasn't sure if she even wanted to find out.

Eventually the cave they were in opened up into a huge cavern. What Sparkpaw saw was amazing. The cavern was bigger than the Gathering area. There was a hole at the top and when Sparkpaw looked up, she saw the moon. It was almost a half moon, it was bright, its light filtering down into the cavern, lighting it up. Cats were all around, more than she'd ever seen before.

"Wow." Sparkpaw breathed.

"This is the real Dusk Cavern." Blazeclaw announced.

He scanned the group of cats as if he were searching for someone. Turning to Sparkpaw he meowed, "Stay here, I'll be right back."

He padded away before she could reply. She watched him disappear in the mob of cats and in a heartbeat he returned with a tiger, mountain lion, and a lion.

"These are Volcanostripe, Brownwhisker, and Brackentail" Blazeclaw introduced, pointing to each cat as he named them.

"Okay, but what exactly am I here for?" Sparkpaw asked, puzzled.

"You're here to train with us." Volcanostripe answered.

"But I already have a mentor and I can't stay with you." she mewed, still confused.

"You don't get it." Brownwhisker growled. "Your Clanmates are sleeping. You're denmates would see you asleep. You're here at night and getting more training."

"Oh."

"You'll be training with Volcanostripe." Brackentail meowed.

"Right now?" Sparkpaw asked, her tail drooping in disappointment.

"Yes," Volcanostripe replied. "Now come with me." He led her into a clearing where there wasn't anyone.

"Show me what you know." he growled, crouching and facing Sparkpaw.

"O-okay." she stammered.

Sparkpaw charged up at him, expecting him to dodge to the side. He did. She managed to swipe at him with sheathed claws.

"Good. Show me more." Volcanostripe meowed.

He came up to her. Sparkpaw neatly jumped and landed squarely on his shoulders and held on tightly. Volcanostripe tried to shake her off but it didn't work. He finally dropped and tried to roll, but once more, Sparkpaw jumped again.

"Blazeclaw was right, she's a natural. Sparkpaw could be what we need." Volcanostripe muttered, obviously not meant for Sparkpaw to hear.

_A natural for what?_ _What they need? What is he talking about?_ She didn't want to get in trouble so she kept quiet.

"You're pretty good at this." Volcanostripe told her.

"Yeah, because we did this yesterday!" she retorted.

"We have to practice. It's for the good of the Clans." he meowed.

"What does this have to do with the Clans?"

"You don't need to know yet. When the time comes, we'll tell you."

"Why won't you tell me now?"

"Volcanostripe is right. We'll tell you when the time comes." Blazeclaw meowed, suddenly coming in from behind.

"Fine. I just thought I should have a right to know." Sparkpaw muttered bitterly.

"If you keep coming to train, we'll tell you." Blazeclaw promised.

Just as Sparkpaw was about to protest that she didn't know how she came here, she felt a prod on her shoulder. Blazeclaw, Volcanostripe and the cave were fading away and her vision went blank.

"Good morning Sparkpaw!" Sparrowpaw greeted her cheerfully in their den.

"Hi Sparrowpaw," Sparkpaw tried to match his cheerful tone as best as she could. She was tired and her muscles ached.

"We're going on a hunting patrol." Sparrowpaw meowed.

"Okay."

They padded out of the den to find Mousepelt and Sunwing waiting for them.

"Right, we need to gather as much prey as we can since leaf-bare will be coming." Mousepelt announced.

"We're going to try the Higher Ledges." Sunwing added.

When they were ready, they set out. They were walking when Sparrowpaw suddenly hissed, "There's a deer!"

They looked over and saw a deer grazing on the grass that had grown.

"Watch us. We can take down the deer ourselves." Mousepelt whispered.

He and Sunwing stalked towards the deer, veering to one side to keep downwind. Sunwing crept off to the other side of the deer, still downwind, and crouched, waiting. Mousepelt continued to stalk towards it and then crouched. After a moment he let out a roar and charged at the deer. The deer glanced up, fear glazing its eyes and whipped behind him only to run into Sunwing. She reared up and slashed its throat, killing it. Mousepelt trotted to Sunwing and helped her bury their prey. When they were done, they padded back to the two apprentices.

"That's how it's done." Sunwing meowed. "We'll see if we can something else so you two can practice."

After a while they found another deer.

"We'll help you if you need it," Sunwing meowed. "Sparrowpaw, you stalk towards the deer and scare it. Sparkpaw and I will go to the other side and wait for it. Mousepelt will help if needed"

They did the same thing again. Then, Sparrowpaw yowled and ran to the deer. Instead of turning around, the deer ran off to the side.

_Oh StarClan no! _

Sparkpaw and her mentor charged after the deer. Mousepelt raced after Sparrowpaw. They joined the she-cats as Sunwing leaped and brought down the deer, giving a killing bite to the throat again.

"I'm sorry." Sparrowpaw meowed, hanging his head in disappointment.

"No, don't worry about it." Mousepelt meowed gently. "This was your first try, so it's okay. Next time you'll get it."

"Okay." Sparrowpaw sighed.

"Yeah, it's okay. Mousepelt's right." Sparkpaw told him, trying to cheer him up.

He nodded. "Let's try again."

Soon, they found a moose.

"We'll do the same thing again." Sunwing whispered.

Sparrowpaw stalked up to it and yowled again, this time leading it to the direction of Sparkpaw and Sunwing. Sunwing brought it down and let Sparkpaw deliver the killing blow.

"That was great, both of you!" Mousepelt praised.

"Yes, that was very good." Sunwing meowed. "We better get back to camp. We have a lot to carry."

On their last trip back to camp, Sparkpaw was carrying three mice by their tails. She'd caught them in between trips. When she entered the camp, she tossed them onto the fresh-kill pile.

She looked around to find Goldpaw, but she was sharing prey with Sparrowpaw. They were talking and Goldpaw purred at something Sparrowpaw said.

Sparkpaw twitched her whiskers in amusement and settled down with one of her mice.

She started thinking about the Dusk Cavern. _I can't wait to tell Volcanostripe about the moose I killed! _

Wait. She was _excited_ to go to the Dusk Cavern? Suddenly, Sparkpaw was anxious for night to come so she could visit the Dusk Cavern in her dreams. _In my dreams? Is that how I visit the Dusk Cavern? Is this all an illusion? Or is this reality? Like when StarClan visits cats when they're sleeping. _Just then, Sparkpaw had a frightening thought.

_Are Blazeclaw, Volcanostripe, Brownwhisker, and Brackentail just illusions? And if so, why am I there? But if not… Why do they need me?_

**Somewhat of a cliffie, huh? Hope you liked the chapter! **

**I know I always apologize but seriously, I really am sorry. School just got too much for me to handle in the last month and I'm actually busy this summer for once… However, I **_**will**_** be continuing no matter what, so hopefully updates will be somewhat quicker than they were before. I'll be at the beach on vacation, which is when I'll be writing. I don't think there will be an update until July though, just to give you guys an estimate on that.**

**Please review, I would really like some feedback!**

**~Bluestar4ever**


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